Mannequin, method and system for purchase, making and alteration of clothing

ABSTRACT

A mannequin, method and system for facilitating making, altering and/or purchasing clothing by a user. The mannequin includes: a body that substantially resembles that of a prospective user of clothing and/or adornments, the body including an outer contour; a plurality of sensors attached to the body, for providing one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin; and a data transmission interface connected to the sensors operable to transmit the one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a mannequin, method and system of facilitating the making, altering and/or purchase of clothing and/or adornments. In particular, the system and method involves use of a mannequin with sensors and/or mechanisms to provide one or more quantitative indicators of fit and/or comfort.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When purchasing clothing using an on-line shopping system such as Amazon.com for example, items are typically chosen by their two dimensional appearance alone. In contrast, when purchasing clothing in retail outlets, items of clothing are displayed on mannequins. Unfortunately, mannequins used in most retail environments typically replicate the body shape of tall, slim and athletic male and female human beings. In the online environment, items are chosen from static images on web pages and typically, the size of clothing is selected from a drop down list that allows a choice of size according to present sizing practices.

Choosing clothing based on clothing size indicators alone often results in ill fitting or worse, plainly unsuitable and even unwearable clothing. The waste of time, money and materials is not merely an economic problem but also a sustainability problem.

More often than not, when choosing clothing based on clothing size indicators, items which may have appeared desirable when viewed on mannequins and on-line images do not appear as desirable when the clothes are received and the customer has more time and greater resources to judge whether they have chosen the right article to suit their body shape and taste. Both in the real world and on-line environments it is difficult for a customer to obtain a realistic view of how they would feel in an item of clothing and how the clothing will fit. Factors such as comfort are virtually impossible to determine based upon viewing a mannequin and/or on-line images.

This problem is exacerbated by sizing variations, styles variations, variation in materials, etc. between countries, clothing manufacturers, and even in a manufacturer's own range of clothing. An improved method of choosing clothing is required.

Similar problems occur when making or altering clothing. If the customer is not present during the process of making or altering the clothing, it is difficult to ensure that the clothing fits well and is comfortable.

Any discussion of the prior art in this specification is included for the purpose of providing background and should not be interpreted as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of the invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect, although it need not be the only, or indeed the broadest aspect, the invention provides a mannequin including:

a body that substantially resembles that of a prospective user of clothing and/or adornments, the body including an outer contour;

a plurality of sensors attached to the body, for providing one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin, and

a data transmission interface connected to the sensors operable to transmit the one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments.

According to an embodiment, the quantitative indications of the performance of the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin include one or more of an indication of pressure, air flow, body heat, fabric softness, clothing transparency, material stress, the extent to which fabric is stretched, and clothing and/or adornment integrity.

According to another embodiment, the outer body contour is defined over at least part of the body by a plurality of adjustable devices that are operable to cause the mannequin to replicate one or more outer body contours of the user.

According to yet another embodiment, the mannequin further includes:

a data reception interface for receiving measurements of the user, the measurements associated with the one or more outer body contours of the user; and

a processor for transforming the received measurements to signals receivable by the plurality of adjustable devices,

wherein upon receiving the signals, the plurality of adjustable devices are activated and/or controlled to adopt a physical position that causes the mannequin to replicate one or more outer body contours of the user.

The plurality of adjustable devices may include movable pistons, and the plurality of sensors may measure the force applied to the one or more of the movable pistons replicating the one or more outer body contours of the user by an article of clothing or adornment fitted to the mannequin.

The one or more movable pistons are activated hydraulically or pneumatically, and the force applied to movable pistons by the article of clothing or adornment is measured by one or more hydraulic or pneumatic pressure sensors. Alternatively, the adjustable devices may include removable pistons actuated by electromagnetic means or driven by an electric motor.

According to another aspect, the invention provides a system for making, altering and/or purchasing clothing for or by a customer, the system including:

a mannequin including:

-   -   a body that substantially resembles that of a prospective user         of clothing and or adornments, the body including an outer         contour;     -   a plurality of sensors attached to the body, for providing one         or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing         and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin, and     -   a data interface connected to the sensors operable to transmit         the one or more quantitative indications of performance of the         clothing and/or adornments; and

a presentation module, for generating a graphical representation of the quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or the adornments fitted to the mannequin.

According to an embodiment, the system further includes:

a reception interface, for receiving measurements of the user, the measurements associated with the one or more outer body contours of the user; and

a processor for transforming the received measurements to signals receivable by the plurality of adjustable devices,

wherein upon receiving the signals, the plurality of adjustable devices adopt a physical position that causes the mannequin to replicate one or more outer body contours of the user.

According to another embodiment, the system further includes a data transmission interface for transmitting the graphical representation of the quantitative indications.

The graphical representation of the quantitative indications may include a coded overlay on a graphic image. The graphic image may include one of a photographic image of the clothing fitted to the mannequin. The graphical representation may include regions of differential transparency, regions of differential coloured shading and/or regions of differential brightness.

According to an embodiment, the graphical representation includes regions of differential transparency and regions of differential coloured shading, wherein the coloured shading indicates a type of quantitative indication and the transparency indicates a magnitude of the quantitative indication.

According to yet another aspect, the invention provides a method of facilitating making, altering and/or purchasing clothing by a user, the method including:

providing an adjustable mannequin including:

-   -   a body that substantially resembles that of a prospective user         of clothing and/or adornments, the body including an outer         contour;     -   a plurality of sensors attached to the outer contour of body,         for providing one or more quantitative indications of         performance of the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the         mannequin, and     -   a data transmission interface connected to the sensors operable         to transmit the one or more quantitative indications of         performance of the clothing and/or adornments;

fitting the mannequin with the clothing and/or adornments;

receiving, via a data interface, the quantitative indications from the mannequin; and

providing the user, via a data interface, a graphical representation of the quantitative indications.

According to an embodiment, the method further includes:

receiving, via a data interface, outer physical dimensions of the prospective user of clothing and/or adornments;

adjusting the mannequin according to the received outer physical dimensions;

wherein the mannequin includes a plurality of adjustable devices that are operable to adjust their physical dimensions to replicate one or more outer body contours of the user. The physical dimensions of the prospective user may include one or more of a height of the prospective user, and a length or width of a body part of the prospective user.

According to another embodiment, the method further includes:

generating, on a processor and from the quantitative indications of performance, an indication of the fit of clothing and/or adornments; and

providing, via a data interface, the indication to the user.

According to another embodiment, the method further includes:

receiving, via a data interface, one or more preferences of the prospective user of clothing and/or adornments; and

adjusting the graphical representation and/or the quantitative indications according to the one or more preferences.

The clothing may include any one or more of a shirt, a blouse, a dress, a skirt, a vest, a jumper, a jacket, pants, a suit, shoes, a hat or gloves, and the adornments may include any one or more of a watch, a scarf, a bracelet, an anklet, a necklace, a fascinator or a girdle.

According to yet another embodiment, the method further includes:

adjusting the mannequin to a new position;

receiving, via a data interface, further quantitative indications from the mannequin regarding the fit of the clothing and/or adornments; and

providing the user, via a data interface, a graphical representation of the further quantitative indications corresponding to the mannequins new position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To assist in understanding the invention and to enable a person skilled in the art to put the invention into practical effect, embodiments of the invention are described below by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a mannequin according to en embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a system for the making, alteration and/or purchase of clothing for or by a customer;

FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical representation of quantitative indications of performance of clothing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a mannequin according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a mannequin according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates the mannequin of FIG. 5 including a sleeved shirt;

FIG. 7 illustrates a method of facilitating the making, alteration and/or purchase of clothing by a user, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8 a-8 c illustrate progressively how the movable piston sensors 22 move from a retracted position inside the mannequin of FIG. 1 to a different extended position outside the mannequin depending on the input shape of the customer;

FIG. 9 illustrates a cross sectional view of the torso of a still further mannequin embodiment 10 c; and

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of a computer system with which the present invention may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention include a mannequin, method and system of facilitating the making, altering and/or purchase of clothing and/or adornments. Elements of the invention are illustrated in concise outline form in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are necessary for understanding the embodiments of the present invention, but so as not to clutter the disclosure with excessive detail that will be obvious to a skilled reader.

The skilled reader will realise that in being able to fit an appropriately sized mannequin with one or more articles of clothing and/or adornments and measuring the performance of the clothing and/or adornments, a user is provided with detailed information regarding how well the clothing or adornments the user. This is achieved by placing a number of sensors on the mannequin that collect data from the mannequin.

Where the mannequin is located in-store, the customer may request the fitment of an article of clothing to the mannequin so that they may directly view a graphical representation of the performance of the clothing. Alternatively, where the mannequin is located remotely from the customer, the customer may be provided with images of the article of clothing fitted to the mannequin, overlaid with performance data.

Future developments in technology may provide improvements in relation to sensors and the manner in which measurements are made by the mannequin, or in relation to the manner in which customers view the performance data of the actual article of clothing on the mannequin. The invention should not be considered to be restricted to only those methods presently available for sensing and providing images.

The mannequin may represent an entire human body, or a part of a human body, such as an arm, a hand, a foot, etc, the body. The mannequin may represent a part of the body of an animal, or any other suitable body. For conciseness, however, the following description refers only to mannequins replicating a human body, however a skilled reader could easily adapt the embodiments to suit another type of suitable body.

The clothing may include, for example, a shirt, a blouse, a dress, a skirt, a vest, a jumper, a jacket, pants, a suit, shoes, a hat, gloves and/or other fashion accessories. The adornments may include, for example, a watch, a scarf, a bracelet, an anklet, a necklace, a horse saddle, a fascinator and/or a girdle. For conciseness, the following description refers only to clothing, however a skilled reader could easily adapt the embodiments to suit another type of adornment.

FIG. 1 illustrates a mannequin 10 a according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the mannequin 10 a includes a torso 12 in the form of an elongated elliptical cylinder, and a neck 14, arms 18 and legs 18 each being in the form of elongated cylinders. A head portion 20 is also disposed above the neck 14. The mannequin 10 a replicates in a very basic form a human body.

The body of a prospective user of clothing is replicated by adjusting the length of the torso 12, neck 14, and the length of each limb 18, 18. In this regard, each of the body parts 12, 14, 18, 18 is made to be extendible and lockable at desired positions. For example, if details such as a customer's height, torso and waist dimensions, arm length, leg length, etc. are known, then the mannequin 10 a can be adjusted to these dimensions.

The mannequin 10 a includes a plurality of movable piston sensors 22 disposed on each of the torso 12, neck 14, arms 16 and legs 18. The movable piston sensors 22 are adapted to extend outwardly from each body part 12, 14, 18, 18, and also to be retracted again to their original position so that the process can be repeated. The movable piston sensors 22 include sensors for providing one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin 10 a.

The movable piston sensors 22 measure a force exerted on the movable piston 22 by clothing fitted to the mannequin. The movable piston sensors 22 are initially positioned such that they replicate one or more outer body contours of the user. When clothing is applied to the mannequin 10 a, especially if the clothing is tight, a force is applied to the movable piston sensors 22. The applied force may be used to determine the tightness of the clothing.

In an embodiment, the movable piston sensors 22 exert an opposing force to any articles of clothing or adornments fitted to the mannequin 10 a. The opposing force replicates the opposing force that would be applied by the user's skin or muscle tissue to the articles of clothing or adornments. By exerting an opposing force consistent with the opposing force that would be exerted by the user's body, the movable piston sensors 22 ensure that the appearance of the mannequin, and the pressure readings of the movable piston sensors 22, are consistent with the appearance and pressure of the clothing when fitted to the user.

Once clothing is applied to the mannequin 10 a, the mannequin 10 a is adjusted according to a customer's dimensions by the movable piston sensors 22. The movable piston sensors 22 advantageously have an upper pressure threshold in order to avoid damaging clothing that is too small. Otherwise, the pressure required to replicate the outer body contours of the user, when the clothing is applied, is measured.

The mannequin 10 a further includes a data transmission interface, connected to the movable piston sensors 22, operable to transmit the one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing of the sensors. The data transmission interface may transmit the pressure of all of the movable piston sensors 22 individually and without transformation. Alternatively, the mannequin 10 a may include data transformation capabilities, which enable data from multiple movable piston sensors 22 to be transmitted together, or alternatively provide a filtered or transformed version of the pressures.

The data transmission interface may include any suitable data transmission interface including raw data transfer, and data transfer using protocols such as TCP/IP, or similar.

The movement and sensing of the movable piston sensors 22 may be achieved using any suitable known means and may use electrical actuators, or accurate servo motors. The movable piston sensors 22 may be telescopic such that extension and/or retraction of a movable piston sensor 22 only alters the physical location of one end of the movable piston 22.

The plurality of movable piston sensors 22 are disposed at a density that allows the movable piston sensors 22 to both replicate one or more curves and/or one or more contours along the length of each body part 12, 14, 18, 18 and accurately sense a performance of a body part on the one or more curves and/or one or more contours.

For example, the movable piston sensors 22 in the legs 18 can be extended and/or retracted to replicate the outer body contour of a customer's calf, knee and/or thigh region, and thus accurately sense a pressure corresponding to the clothing on the customer's calf, knee and/or thigh region. The movable piston sensors 22 of the torso 12 can similarly be extended and retracted to replicate and sense pressure on the outer body contour of a customer's buttocks, lower back, upper back, underarm area, shoulders, abdomen and/or chest region. The movable piston sensors 22 of the arms 18 may be extended and/or retracted to replicate and sense pressure on the outer body contour of a customer's forearm, elbow and/or upper arm. The movable piston sensors 22 of a bicep, pectoral, abdomen, buttock, quadriceps and/or neck panel 24 may be extended and or retracted to replicate and sense pressure on an outer body contour of a customer's bicep, pectoral, abdomen, buttock, quadriceps and/or neck.

Persons skilled in the relevant field of technology will appreciate that the sensors and/or the adjustable devices may operate hydraulically and/or pneumatically, for example, to define the outer body contour of the mannequin 10 a and to measure applied pressure. Other technology, such as springs may be used to measure a pressure and/or define an outer body contour. Similarly the sensors and the adjustable devices may be separate. For example, the sensors may be place on the adjustable devices, or adjacent to the adjustable devices.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown), the plurality of adjustable devices include inflatable bladder sensors that are used to adjust the outer body contour of the mannequin 10 a to resemble that of a customer and to accurately sense a pressure. In one particular embodiment, a combination of movable piston sensors 22 and inflatable bladder sensors is used and the two types of devices are used to define the outer body contour of the mannequin 10 a for different parts of a body.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system 200 for the making, alteration and/or purchase of clothing for or by a customer.

The system 200 includes the mannequin 10 a and a computer 205. The computer 205 includes a reception interface, for receiving measurements of the user, in the form of a graphical user interface 210. The measurements are associated with one or more outer body contours of the user.

The customer may be measured by themselves or another person such as, a friend or, in an in-shop environment, by a shop assistant.

The outer body counter of a customer is dynamic such that it changes with movement. For example, the outer body counter changes with walking, running, bending down, lunging and/or squatting. The measurements may include measurements in two or more poses. The two or more poses may include a standing pose and or one or more other poses. The standing pose may have the customer measured in a relaxed, straight back standing position with feet side by side and shoulder width apart.

The one or more other poses may include one or both elbow bent at right angles; one or both knees bent at right angles; one or both elbow bent to maximum; one or both knee bent to maximum; one or both elbow bent to an angle between straight arm and maximum; one or both knee bent to an angle between straight and maximum; customer on one knee; customer on both knees, customer in a lunge; customer in a partial lunge; customer in a squat; customer in a partial squat; customer with a bent back; customer legs together, customer legs further apart than shoulders; arms raised to side; arms raised in front; arms raised above head.

The two or more poses may be used by the computer 205 to build a dynamic range of movement and body shape of the customer.

The measurements may include measurements relating to an action performed by a customer. An example of such an action is a golf swing, or bending in a certain manner. This enables the system 200 to determine one or more quantitative indications of performance when certain actions are performed.

The measurements may then be input into the graphical user interface 210. In an alternative embodiment, the data may be uploaded over the internet by a customer. In this case, the computer 205 may include a web server which provides the graphical user interface 210 to the remote user via a web browser.

The graphical user interface may also be used to receive one or more preferences relating to the quantitative indications of performance. Such preferences may include a strong preference for loose fitting collars, a preference for tight pants, or any other suitable preference.

The computer is operatively connected to the mannequin 10 a, by a wired connection 215. As will be readily understood by a skilled reader, a wireless connection may similarly be used, as may a combination of wired 215 and wireless connections. The computer 205 transforms the measurements into signals receivable by the plurality of movable piston sensors 22. Movement of the movable piston sensors 22 is then electronically controlled in accordance with the input measurements, through the signals.

The computer 205 additionally includes a reception interface, for receiving one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing fitted to the mannequin. The quantitative indications of performance may comprise raw data as read by the plurality of sensors, or filtered data.

The computer 205 includes a presentation module, for generating a graphical representation of the quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or the adornments fitted to the mannequin. The preferences, as well as empirical data, for example, may be used to filter data prior to generating a graphical representation. Such filtering may include exaggerating or ignoring certain quantitative indications.

The present invention is not limited to any one method of obtaining outer body contour data from a customer, or for conveying such data to the mannequin to adjust the physical location of the movable piston sensors 22 or other devices for establishing an outer body contour of the mannequin 10 a such that it resembles that of the customer.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the system 200 further includes a scanning device. The scanning device may include three dimensional scanning technology using lasers, or any other technology for the purpose of scanning an outer body contour of a customer.

When the scanning system is used to obtain an outer body contour of the customer, the one or more other poses may include the customer in the act of walking; running; lunging, squatting; and bending a knee or elbow, for example.

FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical representation 300 of quantitative indications of performance of clothing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The graphical representation 300 includes an image 305 of the clothing fitted to the mannequin and a coded overlay 310 representing the quantitative indications of performance.

The coded overlay 310 includes regions of differential transparency, the level of transparency of the overlay indicating a magnitude of the quantitative indication.

As will be readily understood by a person skilled in the relevant area of technology, the coded overlay 310 may be represented as complete image rather than an overlay. Similarly, instead of transparency, a brightness of a colour may be used to indicate a magnitude of the quantitative indication. For example, a bright red may be used to indicate a particularly tight area, and dull red may be used to indicate a tight area that is not very tight.

The coded overlay 310 may include a thresholding of data, such that levels of a quantitative indication above or below a certain threshold are not shown at all. In a simple embodiment, the coded overlay 310 may simply have two values, i.e. to indicate a potential problem or not.

The coded overlay 310 of FIG. 3 indicates a tight fit of a shirt around the stomach.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown), multiple types of quantitative indications are shown in the coded overlay 310. Each type of quantitative is coded using a different colour, and the level of transparency of each colour indicates a magnitude of the quantitative indication.

To improve the user experience when viewing images of a mannequin onto which items of clothing or adornments have been placed, for any parts of the mannequin that are not covered by an article of clothing or adornment, the image is adjusted to replace those uncovered portions with images that are representative of the user. In one embodiment, the uncovered portions are replaced with an image of a skin tone that is similar to that of the user.

In another embodiment, an image of the dressed mannequin is adjusted to replace uncovered portions with actual representations of the user's corresponding body parts that are captured during the process of scanning the user's body to obtain their outer dimensions. Adjusting the image of the mannequin to merge into that image body parts of the user for those parts of the mannequin that are uncovered provides the best representation to the user regarding how the item of clothing will appear when worn by themselves.

FIG. 4 illustrates a mannequin 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The mannequin 400 includes a plurality of sensors attached to the outer contour of the body, in the form of pressure sensors 405 and an air flow sensor 410.

The air flow sensor 410 comprises a fan, and an air circulation sensor. The air flow sensor 410 may be advantageous in detecting how warm, or how close to the body an item of clothing may feel.

As will be readily understood by a person skilled in the art, other types of sensors include heat retention sensors, fabric softness or texture sensors, clothing transparency sensors, material stress sensors, clothing stretch sensors, and sensors to detect integrity of clothing.

Any suitable sensing technology may be utilised to provide an indication of pressure applied to the mannequin such as, microcell sensing, mechanical differential sensing, load cell and/or strain gauges, dedicated pressure sensors, tactile sensors, fibre optic sensors, inductive sensors and/or piezoelectric sensors.

The microcell sensor may either be encased inside the movable piston sensor 22 or inserted into the sides to measure changes in hydraulic or pneumatic pressure.

The mechanical differential sensors may monitor the energy consumed by mechanical actuators, to momentarily enlarge the body shape with and without clothing fitted. The difference between the two energy readings may be calibrated to provide a relative indication of the tightness of the fitted clothes.

The load cell and/or strain gauges may be placed inside the movable piston sensors 22, or applied to the surface of the outer skin of the mannequin. Typically these are resistive components, although other technologies such as inductive capacitive or piezo may be utilized. Resistive transducers change their resistance in accordance to the level of force applied to the sensor's surface in a predictable and repeatable manner.

Dedicated pressure sensors may work in a similar manner to microcell sensing. The sensors may be comprised of an integrated volume of air and load cell sensor that, when squeezed or pressured, may provide an electrical signal indicate the level of force applied. The benefit is that they can be placed in close proximity to the components that are used to replicate the outer contour shape of a user.

The tactile sensors may be constructed from piezo-resistive materials residing between two layers of silver on a flexible backing tape. The benefit of this type of technology is that it is small, light and flexible. Furthermore, the sensor areas may be constructed in arrays, which concentrate a number of detectors into a small area.

Fibre Optic Sensors may operate by using a wide range of optical principles and fundamentally may utilise an optical fibre which allow single point pressure and/or force measurement. The benefit of this type of sensor is fibre itself can have a low mass, and the signal can be transmitted over e large distance with little signal degradation.

Inductive Sensors may work by measuring the displacement of a diaphragm by means of changes in its inductance. These sensors, may be similar in size to a load cell sensor.

Piezoelectric sensors use the piezoelectric effect (i.e. a measurable voltage) in crystal that occurs when a force is applied.

Most of these sensors may be deployed in either an active or passive sensor network. In particular, wired, wireless, passive RF or optical technology may be utilised to transmit data back to a host computer.

The pressure sensors may measure and report to the consumer the pressure the garment applies upon the body in the two or more poses, to determine if the consumer will be comfortable in the day to day wear of the garment.

Rather than using pressure sensors, the movable piston sensors 22 may be touch sensitive such that once they have been extended to suit the outer body contour of the customer, they will also retract once an article of clothing bears against them. Thus the movable piston sensors 22 may be biased and retract upon the exertion of pressure to indicate to the customer how the article of clothing would appear.

Such movement may be recorded, and this will also provide an indication of where, and to what extent, the article of clothing is applying pressure on the body.

The pressure sensors may be included on each of the movable piston sensors 22 or may be included on only a subset of the movable piston sensors. Advantageously, pressure sensors are included on at least one movable piston sensor 22 or a suitable subset of movable piston sensors 22 in areas known to be important to fit, such as neck, shoulders, biceps, wrist, chest, bust, waist and abdomen. For example, one movable piston sensor 22 on a bicep may give a suitable indicator of pressure, however a ring of sensors around a neck or a waist may be required.

In one embodiment the pressure applied to the movable piston sensor 22 by clothing is measured by the electric current supplied to the movable piston sensor 22 to extend them when the clothing is fitted.

In another embodiment the pressure applied by the clothing to the movable piston sensor 22 is determined by measuring the tightness of the clothing on the mannequin 10 a, 400. In this embodiment, the tightness is measured by measuring the stretching of the clothing. In this instance, the pressure indication is provided by covering the mannequin 10 a, 400 with a special fabric that can report on the pressure it receives, and/or by measuring a chemical structure change.

The mannequin may also provide other quantitative indications of fit such as air flow, body heat, fabric softness, clothing transparency, stress testing, a customer weight change allowance and clothing and/or adornment integrity.

The air flow indication may be provided by the mannequin 10 a, 10 b, 10 c comprising an opening underneath the fitted clothing and/or adornment through which air is blown and an air blower. The air flow indication provides a customer with an indication of sufficient or insufficient air flow and an estimate of the level of perspiration when wearing the garment.

The body heat indication may be provided by the mannequin 10 a, 400 comprising one or more heat generators and a plurality of thermometers to measure the air temperature between mannequin 10 a, 400 and the clothing and/or the heat escaping through the clothing and/or adornment. The temperature readings from the plurality of thermometers provide an indication of how heat escapes through the fitted clothing and how suitable the clothing is for cold weather, how comfortable it is in different weather conditions and a recommended temperature range.

The fabric softness indication may be provided by using the pressure sensors to measure the softness of the material from which the fitted clothing and/or adornment is comprised. The measure of fabric softness may provide an indication of how soft the fabric is and/or whether the fitted clothing is suitable to be worn on the naked body. This embodiment may be particularly appealing to customers buying undergarments and/or with sensitive skin and the invention may provide softness ranges suitable for sensitive and normal skin. The fabric transparency indication may be provided by mannequin 10 a, 400 comprising one or more lights for projecting light through the fitted clothing. This provides a customer with confirmation as to whether the clothing will be see-through or not when worn and whether suitable undergarments should be worn to reduce the transparency. The weight change allowance indicator may be provided by mannequin 10 a, 400 being manipulated to replicate changes to body contour according to a weight change by extending the movable piston sensors 22. The weight change may be distributed throughout the body or may be localized at one region for example, the abdomen, hips, buttocks or thighs. The weight change may be an increase or decrease in weight of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 kilograms. Rather than using a model, a customer may be scanned during weight variation to provide accurate measurements and distribution of weight variation.

The stress test indicator may be provided by having mannequin 10 a, 400 change pose, for example dynamically and/or between the two or more poses, and expand where needed, for example at flexed muscles or bent joints to assess whether stitching on the garment is suitable for long lasting wear. Photographic or video images may be obtained during the stress test with particular attention on the stitches and sent to the customer with a report for visual assessment of durability.

The clothing and/or adornment integrity indicator may be provided by checking the consistency of the cloth or material from which the clothing and/or adornment is comprised on the dressed mannequin. Advantageously, this allows a report on whether the clothing and/or adornment has any holes or damage.

FIG. 5 illustrates a mannequin 10 b according to another embodiment of the invention. The mannequin 10 b is similar to the mannequin 10 a, but more closely resembles a human body.

The mannequin 10 b includes a plurality of body panels 24, which substantially resemble the major muscles of the human body, for example, there is a panel 24 for each bicep muscle, a panel 24 for each pectoral muscle, and so on. Rather than including a large number of panels, a single curved panel 24 may be used where required.

Behind each panel is a pressure sensor (not shown) for detecting an amount of pressure applied to the panel by an item of clothing.

The mannequin 10 b includes a plurality of sensors 32 disposed on each panel. As described earlier any type of sensor 32 may be used, heat retention sensors, fabric softness or texture sensors, clothing transparency sensors, material stress sensors, clothing stretch sensors, and sensors to detect integrity of clothing.

The mannequin 10 b further includes flexible joints between at least two panels, such that the mannequin 10 b may change pose. The joints may be mechanically operated.

FIG. 6 illustrates a mannequin 10 b, as described in FIG. 5, but including a sleeved shirt 36.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method 700 of facilitating the making, alteration and/or purchase of clothing by a user, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

At step 705, outer physical dimensions of the prospective user of clothing and/or adornments are received, via a data interface.

At step 710, the mannequin is fitted with the clothing and/or adornments. The mannequin includes a plurality of sensors attached to the outer contour of body, for providing one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin. The mannequin additionally includes a plurality of adjustable devices that are operable to adjust their physical dimensions to replicate one or more outer body contours of the user.

At step 715, the mannequin is adjusted according to the received outer physical dimensions.

At step 720, the quantitative indications are received from the mannequin, via a data interface.

At step 725, a graphical representation of the quantitative indications is provided to the user, via a data interface.

FIGS. 8 a-8 c illustrate progressively how the movable piston sensors 22 move from a retracted position inside the mannequin 10 a to a different extended position outside the mannequin 10 a depending on the input shape of the customer. In particular, a cross section through the torso region of the mannequin 10 b is shown. FIG. 8 c illustrates the same mannequin 10 a having an item of clothing 34 applied, exerting pressure back onto the movable piston sensors 22.

FIG. 9 illustrates a cross sectional view of the torso of a still further mannequin embodiment 10 c. Rather than having cylindrical body parts as per mannequin 10 a, or a hollow body made up of multiple panels as per mannequin 10 b, the mannequin 10 c includes a single planar panel 40 extending through a vertical axis of the body, and a plurality of movable piston sensors 42 extend outwardly therefrom to an extent similar to that of the location of the panels of mannequin 10 b or the extended movable piston sensors 22 of the mannequin 10 a. As mentioned above in the context of mannequin 10 a, the movable piston sensors 42 can be extended as required by any known means, for example, they may be telescopic.

As for mannequins 10 a and 10 b above, mannequin 10 c may also alter the outer body contour depending upon the mannequin pose as outlined with reference to mannequin 10 a above.

Any of the mannequins 10 a, 10 b, 10 c may also include additional sensors to those discussed above, in order to provide further quantitative indications of fit of the clothing to a customers body shape. The one or more quantitative indication of fit may include en indication of pressure, through tightness of fit, applied by the clothing when worn, an indication of air flow, body heat, fabric softness, clothing transparency, stress testing and a weight change allowance. The quantitative indications can additionally include measures such as clothing or material quality, seam quality, material thickness or similar which may not directly change the fit of an item of clothing, but instead other characteristics of the clothing such as quality.

An example where the systems and methods described above may prove useful is where a person may have an unusually large neck width, and wishes to purchase a shirt. Use of the mannequins 10 a, 10 b and/or 10 c will indicate that even though the shirt may be suited to the customer's torso and arm regions, it may provide an uncomfortable pressure around the neck. In using pressure sensors or the like, such information can be retrieved and relayed back to the customer, who may then make a more informed decision.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of a computer system 1000, with which the present invention may be implemented.

The computer system 1000 includes a central processor 1002, a system memory 1004 and a system bus 1006 that couples various system components including the system memory 1004 to the central processor 1002. The system bus 1006 may be any of several types of bus structure including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The structure of system memory 1004 is well known to those skilled in the relevant field of technology and may include a basic input/output system (BIOS) stored in a read only memory (ROM) and one or more program modules such as operating systems, application programs and program data stored in random access memory (RAM).

The computer system 1000 may also include a variety of interface units and drives for reading and writing data. In particular, the computer system 1000 includes a hard disk interface 1008 and a removable memory interface 1010 respectively coupling a hard disk drive 1012 and a removable memory drive 1014 to system bus 1006. Examples of removable memory drives 1014 include magnetic disk drives and optical disk drives. The drives and their associated computer-readable media, such as a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) 1018 provide non-volatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computer system 1000. A single hard disk drive 1012 and a single removable memory drive 1014 are shown for illustration purposes only and with the understanding that the computer system 1000 may include several of such drives. Furthermore, the computer system 1000 may include drives for interfacing with other types of computer readable media.

The computer system 1000 may include additional interfaces for connecting devices to system bus 1006. FIG. 10 shows a universal serial bus (USB) interface 1018 which may be used to couple a device to the system bus 1006. An IEEE 1394 interface 1020 may be used to couple additional devices to the computer system 1000.

The computer system 1000 can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers or other devices, such as a server, a router, a network personal computer, a peer device or other common network node, a wireless telephone or wireless personal digital assistant. The computer 1000 includes a network interface 1022 that couples system bus 1008 to a local area network (LAN) 1024. Networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks and home computer systems.

A wide area network (WAN), such as the internet, can also be accessed by the computer system 1000, for example via a modem unit connected to serial port interface 1026 or via the LAN 1024.

It will be appreciated that the network connections shown and described are exemplary and other ways of establishing a communications link between the computers can be used. The existence of any of various well-known protocols, such as Frame Relay, Ethernet, TCP/IP, FTP, HTTP and the like, is presumed, and the computer system 1000 can be operated in a client-server configuration to permit a user to retrieve web pages from a web-based server. Furthermore, any of various conventional web browsers can be used to display and manipulate data on web pages.

The operation of the computer system 1000 can be controlled by a variety of different program modules. Examples of program modules are routines, programs, objects, components, and data structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The present invention may also be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, mainframe computers, personal digital assistants and the like. Furthermore, the invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

The invention is particularly well suited to facilitating the purchase of clothing in an on-line shopping environment, using a mannequin that can be adjusted to accurately reflect the body of a customer to aid in their assessment of the look and fit of garments before committing to purchasing the article of clothing. In this regard, a customer may use a personal communications device such as a personal computer, a personal digital assistant or a suitably equipped cell phone to review a range of clothing offered for sale by an on-line retailer and may, subsequent to providing data representing their outer physical dimensions, request images of various articles of clothing fitted to a mannequin adjusted to their size. During this process, a sales assistant may also provide guidance regarding the customer's selection of articles of clothing and may suggest alternative articles or perhaps alternative sizes that may better suit the customer.

In an embodiment of the invention, a customer operates software executing on the personal communications device to effect the steps required to select and request the fitment of articles of clothing to a mannequin and to order or decline the purchase of articles of clothing subsequent to reviewing images of same. As an alternative, the customer may request alterations to the article of clothing to better suit their body shape and size.

As will be readily understood by a person skilled in the relevant area of technology, the mannequin may be manufactured with any one or more of a range of sensors to provide quantitative performance data. The mannequin 10 a may be formed by one or more shape forming techniques including one-step techniques and reusable techniques. The one-step techniques may be exact and may require assembly of parts onto a skeleton.

One example of a one-step technique is 3D rapid prototyping in which successive layers of material are added to form a 3D exact replica of the person. Examples of 3D rapid prototyping include selective laser sintering (SLS); stereo lithography apparatus (SLA); 3D printing; and/or injection moulding.

The 3D printing may utilise a plastic material in a hot melted state.

Plastic material is heated and forced under high pressure into mould. The material is allowed to cool to a solid and ejected from the mould.

Another example of a one-step technique is vacuum forming. The vacuum forming may comprise producing a thin plastic shell representing the exact body shape by drawing hot plastic sheets against a shaped mould.

A further example of a one-step technique is inflatable plastic. The inflatable plastic may comprise converting the 3D body scan data so that a 2D plastic sheet cutting machine cuts front and back (or more) panels. These panels are fastened together and the whole part then inflated to produce a full size replica of the human body.

Yet another example of a one-step technique is a static budding block. Static building blocks utilise a library of limb and torso parts in various shapes and sizes. The 3D body data is analysed and parts that closely resemble the scanned data are identified for selection. The operator selects the desired parts and attaches them to a skeleton prior to fitting the clothes.

The reusable techniques may require a course and fine adjustment range. The course adjustment may achieve a close to approximation the large dynamic range of the population, and the fine adjustment may achieve the fine variations to accurately replicate the customer outer body counter.

These reusable techniques generally have an adjustable skeleton structure to achieve limb (arms and legs) & torso lengths and an adjustable form technology to give the shape around the skeleton.

One example of a reusable technology is pneumatic and/or hydraulic cells. The pneumatic and/or hydraulic cells may expand or contract with pneumatic or hydraulic pressure and may be used to provide course and fine adjustment of the body shape. Fine adjustment is achieved by individually controlling each cell.

Another example of a reusable technology is electro and/or mechanical blocks. The electro and/or mechanical blocks may use a combination of electrical and mechanical actuators to form both the course and fine adjustment shapes. An example of a course adjustment is a motor and gearbox drive system adapted to mannequin 10 a. In this case electrically powered actuators may be controlled to provide the shape sizes.

Another example of a reusable technique is to utilise cables and/or rope to form the outer perimeter (or bands) of the body shape. Multiple cables and/or rope may be stacked vertically to form a human body in a standing position with the cable/rope linked through eyelets woven into the inside of the skin. Multiple motor/ropes for a single slice could be used to produce irregular shapes suitable to imitate the various body's forms. The sensor may comprise detecting a pressure applied to the ropes.

As will be readily understood by a person skilled in the relevant area of technology, the clothing and/or adornments according to the present invention includes footwear such as, shoes and boots. Although not illustrated the skilled reader will appreciate that as with the body, movable piston sensors 22 may be used to represent a person's foot and would enable the user to see how the shoe or foot would appear and also indicate to the user whether the footwear would be comfortable.

It will also be understood by the skilled reader that the present invention may be applied to incomplete mannequins or at the very least to individual body parts. Thus different clothing and or footwear shops may only need a part of the body. For example, a retail outlet that sells watches may only wish to have a representative arm to show potential purchasers what a watch may look like on their arm. Similarly jewelry shops may wish to have a representative hand. By keeping a database of customers the shop may email their clients a catalogue illustrating what a piece of jewelry may look like on their hand or wrist. The same applies to footwear retail outlets and those providing gloves and hats.

Whilst the invention is particularly useful for on-line shopping for articles of manufactured clothing, it may also be used in instances where a customer requires clothing to be tailor made. In this instance, the customer has their outer physical dimensions measured and supplies same to a tailor who is equipped with a mannequin. The tailor may then receive instructions from the customer regarding the garment required and may provide the tailor with their outer physical dimensions. The tailor may then proceed to make the garment using the mannequin adjusted to the customer's physical size while receiving feedback from the mannequin that the garment fits comfortably. Of course, tailors would need to have access to a mannequin, however, the use of the invention in this example substantially reduces the requirement for the customer to make repeated trips to the tailor for fitting sessions. One particular example where this would be considered most useful would be the design and making of wedding dresses.

Another benefit of such a use of the invention is that the tailor could be remote from the customer yet still able to commence the manufacture of a garment. For example, the tailor could be overseas as compared with the location of the customer or perhaps, country or regional based customers could provide data pertaining to their outer physical dimensions to a tailor in the city. This particular embodiment also applies to instances where a customer requires alterations to an existing article of clothing and may send the article to a tailor.

The tailor may be able to accurately alter the garment by using the adjustable mannequin along with up to date data regarding the customers outer physical dimensions. The taller may also make use of the quantitative performance data collected from the sensors whilst making or altering clothing for a customer, thus reducing the likelihood that further adjustments will be required. In particular, when making or altering clothing, the tailor may control the mannequin to adopt a number of poses and may adjust clothing to suit the range of movements by the customer.

The invention is also useful for in-shop retail outlets where customers prefer to avoid the fitting of garments. This is also beneficial to the shop keeper as it prevents soiling of garments. In the event that a garment does not fit as well as expected by the customer, an adjustable mannequin may then be used to determine the alterations required to suit the customer.

Irrespective of the actual mode of viewing and/or purchasing articles of clothing with the use of en adjustable mannequin, the collection of the outer physical dimensions of customers will enable the development of a universal sizing system wherein customers may be provided with a number, or some other indicator, that defines their size. Over time, it is expected that retail outlets may adopt the universal sizing system so that customers may then recite their size (according to the universal sizing system) to retail clothing suppliers. In this particular example, customers may not be able to locate their precise size in a retail outlet but they should at least be able to locate an article of clothing that is close to their size irrespective of where the retail clothing outlet is located. Accordingly, with such a system, customers in one country can recite their universal size to someone in another country and they will accurately understand the size requirements of the customer.

Throughout the specification the aim has been to describe the preferred embodiments of the invention without limiting the invention to any one embodiment or specific collection of features. It will therefore be appreciated by those of skill in the art that, in light of the instant disclosure, various modifications and changes can be made in the particular embodiments exemplified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

All computer programs, algorithms, patent and scientific literature referred to herein is incorporated herein by reference. 

1. A mannequin including: a body that substantially resembles that of a prospective user of clothing and or adornments, the body including an outer contour; a plurality of sensors attached to the body, for providing one or more quantitative, indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin, and a data transmission interface connected to the sensors operable to transmit the one or more quantitative indications of performance or comfort of the clothing and/or adornments.
 2. A mannequin according to claim 1, wherein the quantitative indications of the performance or comfort of the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin include one or more of an indication of pressure, air flow, body heat, fabric softness, clothing transparency, material stress, the extent to which fabric is stretched, and clothing and/or adornment integrity.
 3. A mannequin according to claim 1, wherein the outer body contour is defined over at least part of the body by a plurality of adjustable devices that are operable to cause the mannequin to replicate one or more outer body contours of the user.
 4. A mannequin according to claim 3, further including a data reception interface for receiving measurements of the user, the measurements associated with the one or more outer body contours of the user; a processor for transforming the received measurements to signals receivable by the plurality of adjustable devices, wherein upon receiving the signals, the plurality of adjustable devices are activated and/or controlled to adopt a position that causes the mannequin to replicate one or more outer body contours of the user.
 5. A mannequin according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of adjustable devices include movable pistons, and the plurality of sensors measure the force applied to the one or more of the movable pistons replicating the one or more outer body contours of the user by the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin.
 6. A mannequin according to claim 5, wherein the one or more movable pistons are activated hydraulically or pneumatically or electromagnetically or driven by motors or springs, and the force applied to movable pistons by the article of clothing or adornment is measured by one or more pressure sensors.
 7. A system for making, altering and/or purchasing clothing for, or by, a customer, the system including: a mannequin including: a body that substantially resembles that of a prospective user of clothing and/or adornments, the body including an outer contour; a plurality of sensors attached to the body, for providing one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin, and a data interface connected to the sensors operable to transmit the one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments; and a presentation module, for generating a graphical representation of the quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or the adornments fitted to the mannequin.
 8. A system according to claim 7, further including: a reception interface, for receiving measurements of the user, the measurements associated with the one or more outer body contours of the user; a processor for transforming the received measurements to signals receivable by the plurality of adjustable devices, wherein upon receiving the signals, the plurality of adjustable devices adopt a position that causes the mannequin to replicate one or more outer body contours of the user.
 9. A system according to claim 7, further including a data transmission interface for transmitting the graphical representation of the quantitative indications.
 10. A system according to claim 7, wherein the graphical representation of the quantitative indications includes a coded overlay on a graphic image.
 11. A system according to claim 7, wherein the graphic image includes one of a photographic image of the clothing fitted to the mannequin.
 12. A system according to claim 7, wherein the graphical representation includes regions of differential transparency, regions of differential coloured shading and/or regions of differential brightness.
 13. A system according to claim 12, wherein the graphical representation includes regions of differential transparency and regions of differential coloured shading, wherein the coloured shading indicates a type of quantitative indication and the transparency indicates a magnitude of the quantitative indication.
 14. A method of facilitating making, altering and/or purchasing clothing by a user, the method including: providing an adjustable mannequin including: a body that substantially resembles that of a prospective user of clothing and/or adornments, the body including an outer contour; a plurality of sensors attached to the outer contour of body, for providing one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments fitted to the mannequin, and a data transmission interface connected to the sensors operable to transmit the one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and/or adornments; fitting the mannequin with the clothing and/or adornments; receiving, via a data interface, the quantitative indications from the mannequin; and providing the user, via a data interface, a graphical representation of the quantitative indications.
 15. A method according to claim 14, further including: receiving, via a data interface, outer physical dimensions of the prospective user of clothing and/or adornments; adjusting the mannequin according to the received outer physical dimensions; wherein the mannequin includes a plurality of adjustable devices that are operable to adjust their physical dimensions to replicate one or more outer body contours of the user.
 16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the physical dimensions of the prospective user include one or more of a height of the prospective s and a length or width of a body part of the prospective user.
 17. A method according claim 14, further including: generating, on a processor and from the quantitative indications of performance, an indication of the fit of clothing and/or adornments; and providing, via a data interface, the indication to the user.
 18. A method according to claim 14, further including: receiving, via a data interface, one or more preferences of the prospective user of clothing and/or adornments; and adjusting the graphical representation and/or the quantitative indications according to the one or more preferences.
 19. A method according to claim 14, wherein the clothing includes any one or more of a shirt, a blouse, a dress, a skirt, a vest, a jumper, a jacket, pants, a suit, shoes, a hat or gloves, and the adornments include any one or more of a watch, a scarf, a bracelet, an anklet, a necklace, a fascinator or a girdle.
 20. A method according to claim 14, further including: adjusting the mannequin to a new position; receiving, via a data interface, further quantitative indications from the mannequin regarding the fit of clothing and/or adornments; and providing the user, via a data interface, a graphical representation of the further quantitative indications, corresponding to the mannequins new position. 